Germany, Japan and Italy signed this agreement to mutually support each other in their quest to conquer their spheres of influence. Tripartite Pact : The Axis Powers formally came into being. France and Britain declared war on Germany. On 17 Sept the Soviet Union, who had previously signed a non-aggression agreement with Germany (Molotov-Rippentrop Pact: 23 August 1939) invaded and occupied eastern Poland. 1 September 1939 Germany invaded Poland with two Army Groups. Similarly, Italy invaded Albania and then become officially allied with Germany with the “ Pact of Steel ” in May. The southeastern portion became the Slovak Republic, allied with Germany. The western democracies finally realized Hitler’s true intention of conquest. March 1939 – Germany seized the remainder of western Czechoslovakia. German troops occupied the Sudetenland in the first weeks of October. Britain and France agreed to Hitler’s demands to ‘free’ oppressed German people that lived within the Czech Republic. March 1938 – Austria was annexed by the Third Reich.

March 1936 – Germans occupied the Rhineland with troops – again violating the Treaty of Versailles and again resulting in no reaction from the Western democracies. Hitler began to rebuild the military in direct violation of the Treaty of Versailles (secretly at first, and in public by 1935 – the Western democracies do nothing). GERMAN EXPANSION 1933 – The Nazi Party came to power in Germany (the Third Reich forms).

On some Notes Pages: Lines in RED represent Soviet Movements/Action which are provided to understand what is happening to Germany during US/UK actions. Each bulleted line in the Notes Pages correspond the sequential order of each “action” and describes that action. Each click of the mouse will move an object, make an object appear/disappear or show an arrow.

This presentation is intended to be viewed in “Slide Show”.

Instructor Note: These slides contain animated objects.

Battle of the bulge map animation